excersise calories

caroline_mason42

Can I please have some guidance as to how many exercise calories if any I should eat back each day as i am averaging around 850 exercise calories (even though my iwatch states many more active calories) and I seem to remember you are supposed to eat some back?

Any advice welcome

LivingtheLeanDream

The rule of thumb in general is to eat back 50% of exercise calories, MFP is inclined to overestimate the burn, also that covers food logging inaccuracies.

sijomial

If you are actually burning 850 then eat back 850.

How confident are you in that estimate as it's a significant amount and would take quite a long duration to burn that many?

Lillymoo01

Start by eating back 50%. If you are finding that you are losing weight quicker than predicted then up it to 75%. If you are still losing quicker than predicted then eat them all back. If you are not losing at 50% then you need to look at tightening up your logging as you would be eating more calories than you are logging. It really is trial and error.

jjpptt2

sijomial wrote: »

If you are actually burning 850 then eat back 850.

How confident are you in that estimate as it's a significant amount and would take quite a long duration to burn that many?

That's really the crux of the question. Calorie burns are just estimates. Some estimates are pretty good, some are way off. If you feel confident in your numbers, then eat most/all of them back. If you aren't, then only eat a portion back.

Ultimately, some trial and error will probably be necessary.

caroline_mason42

I am confident I am burning this as my iwatch states higher active calories, I do 60 mins cross trainer 6 days a week and a 45 - 60 minute moderately fast dog walk (big chow chow) so I think this is accurate

janejellyroll

caroline_mason42 wrote: »

I am confident I am burning this as my iwatch states higher active calories, I do 60 mins cross trainer 6 days a week and a 45 - 60 minute moderately fast dog walk (big chow chow) so I think this is accurate

If you feel confident it is accurate, then I would eat back all the calories. If you find that you aren't losing as you expect, then reduce the number of calories you're eating back (as this is a sign you aren't actually burning as much as you think you are).

caroline_mason42

Thank you all for your feedback, I will start with 50% and see how I get on, I cut down too low when I lost weight before and had no where to go other than cutting food or increasing calories and as a busy working mum that is a challenge, I get up at 4:45 every day to do the run as it is

scarlett_k

There's really no basis for starting off eat ing half of your exercise calories versus eating all of them, it just seems to be something that is repeated on the forums a lot. If you think it's accurate then eat them all back, especially if you are starting to feel hungry or tired. If youre not losing weight as expected - whether you are losing faster or slower - in a few weeks then reassess your intake.

It's not healthy to be under eating and would likely be better for you in the long run if you were eating slightly too much than too little.

MegaMooseEsq

scarlett_k wrote: »

There's really no basis for starting off eat ing half of your exercise calories versus eating all of them, it just seems to be something that is repeated on the forums a lot. If you think it's accurate then eat them all back, especially if you are starting to feel hungry or tired. If youre not losing weight as expected - whether you are losing faster or slower - in a few weeks then reassess your intake.

It's not healthy to be under eating and would likely be better for you in the long run if you were eating slightly too much than too little.

I think there's a pretty fair basis for starting at 50% (or 75%, or whatever), which is that it is very easy to overestimate the amount you're burning during exercise in any number of ways: MFP estimates can be off, fitness trackers can be off (ask me about being a smoker using a HRM), and people just plain think they're working harder than they actually are. Add to that the fact that most people underestimate how much they're eating, aiming for 50% when your goal is to lose weight seems as good as anything and really unlikely to lead to health issues. I completely agree that you need to adjust based on your actual lived experience, and I'm a big fan of the idea of winning by eating as much as you can while still losing, I just disagree that 50% is baseless.

DX2JX2

caroline_mason42 wrote: »

I am confident I am burning this as my iwatch states higher active calories, I do 60 mins cross trainer 6 days a week and a 45 - 60 minute moderately fast dog walk (big chow chow) so I think this is accurate

If you're doing both the cross training and the dog walking in a day, then the 850 estimate might be a little high but it shouldn't be too far off. If you're only doing one or the other per day, then your calorie burn would be significantly lower.

Lillymoo01

scarlett_k wrote: »

There's really no basis for starting off eat ing half of your exercise calories versus eating all of them, it just seems to be something that is repeated on the forums a lot. If you think it's accurate then eat them all back, especially if you are starting to feel hungry or tired. If youre not losing weight as expected - whether you are losing faster or slower - in a few weeks then reassess your intake.

It's not healthy to be under eating and would likely be better for you in the long run if you were eating slightly too much than too little.

Actually there is a very strong basis for this. Research shows that the majority of people are inaccurate with their logging on places like MFP. Most tend to underestimate how much they eat while overestimating calorie burn. Eating back half gives leeway for these inaccuracies.

caroline_mason42

Hi I do both each day 6 days a week and just the dog walk on a Sunday - I will start eating back some when I am hungry and see how I get on - thank you all very much for the valuable information